With Mazda set to retire the RX-8, it is also set to retire the underrated car's unique power source—the Wankel rotary engine. Here's how this peerless powerhouse works.

Mazda's sweet-handling RX-8 won't return for 2012, and with it goes—for now—the unique Wankel rotary engine. It was patented in 1929 by Felix Wankel and licensed and developed by many companies, but only Mazda stuck with the engine. It's an elegantly simple design: A three-lobed rotor rotates inside a peanut-shaped (the technical term is epitrochoid) housing. The four engine "strokes"— intake, compression, power and exhaust—occur between the rotor's outer edge and the housing. There are no valves, as the gases enter and exit through ports in the housing. Rotaries are naturally smooth since there's no reciprocating motion as in a piston engine, just a buttery flow of power as they climb the rev range. They're about one-third smaller than a conventional engine of similar power, and modular. If you want more power, it's relatively easy to add another rotor and housing (the RX-8 uses two rotors, but Mazda's 1991 Le Mans–winning race car used four). What's the downside? The seals at the rotor apex aren't as robust as piston rings, so these engines are challenged to meet high-mileage emissions requirements. And they tend to be thirsty. Mazda says the rotary will return, and we hope that's true. Running an RX-8 through the gears is an experience that's not soon forgotten.